France has taken chocolate seriously since the seventeenth century, when it arrived at court and was drunk thick, spiced and hot. The modern café version, chocolat chaud à l'ancienne, keeps the old style: made from melted dark chocolate rather than powder, rich enough to coat the cup and served with a glass of water on the side, which is less a garnish than a mercy.

It is the drink of cold mornings, and French circuits have provided plenty of those: early season tests at Le Castellet, or a grey Burgundy dawn at Magny Cours with the mist still on the fields. A small cup goes a long way; this is a drink that intends to be the event, not the accompaniment.

The chocolate

Ingredients

• 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• 1 to 2 tablespoons (12 to 25 g) sugar
• 5 oz (140 g) dark chocolate, about 70 percent
• 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 pinch fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Put the milk, cream, 1 tablespoon sugar, cocoa powder and salt in the saucepan. Whisk to dissolve the cocoa, then heat over medium heat, whisking now and then, for 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Put the chopped chocolate in the heatproof bowl. Pour about a third of the hot milk over it and leave it 30 seconds, then whisk from the center outward until smooth. Whisk in the second third, then the rest.
3. Pour everything back into the saucepan and set it over low heat. Whisk constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, never letting it boil. Stir in the vanilla, taste, and add the remaining sugar if you like it sweeter.

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